10 Reasons to Kayak the Galapagos

In my last post, I made the case for why it’s far better to see Southeast Alaska from a kayak in Misty Fjords than aboard a behemoth cruise ship… The same holds true for the Galapagos Islands. While you won’t find large cruise ships in this fragile tropical environment, the fact is that most trips still operate aboard tour boats, and some of the most popular involve up to a hundred passengers — not the optimal way to experience a natural setting this unique, this wondrous, and this rich with wildlife so unperturbed by human presence that you can approach them comfortably at close range.

Why opt for a Galapagos kayak adventure, rather than the standard-issue tour of the islands?

Here are 10 good reasons:

1) No large tour boats or small ships to contend with!

2) The only crowds you’ll find are thousands of sea birds and scores of marine iguanas hauled out to lounge on the black lava.

3) In a kayak, you paddle right next to sea turtles as they swim gracefully alongside you and rise for air.

4) You’re also nearly eye-level with dolphins, which may approach you with friendly curiosity.

5) A kayak can enter small coves, channels and rocky grottoes – getting you close enough to see the veins in a blue-footed booby’s webbed feet!
6) A paddling trip is a laid-back journey, with plenty of time to swim and snorkel with playful sea lions.

7) Paddling is great exercise. On other Galapagos trips, you’re consigned to a boat and restricted in onshore hiking due to ecological impacts, making for a rather sedentary experience.

8  Sail from island to island about a sporty catamaran, enjoying the wind in the sails, rather than the drone of a motor (conditions permitting).

9) You’re not consigned to a kayak: we still go inland to see giant tortoises in the Santa Cruz highlands and tour the Charles Darwin Research Center.

10 You won’t get closer to nature than on a kayaking adventure, where the only sounds are the drip of the saltwater off your paddle, the fresh ocean breeze, the scree of gulls and, at times, some pretty noisy sea lions!

To see the Galapagos in the most natural way possible – from the seat of a kayak, in a very small group – join Explorers’ Corner, which holds one of the few kayaking permits allowed in the islands!

Under the spell of the “Enchanted Isles,”

Wendy

P.S. Alternatively, if you’d rather sleep ashore, check out Explorers’ Corner’s Galapagos Islands by Land option—a custom adventure that can be arranged for 4 or more people, which still includes all kinds of multi-sport activities.